Christmas reprieve for M&S and Debenhams

Marks & Spencer and Debenhams are reportedly set to announce small drops in sales over the Christmas period this week, but have avoided having to issue profit warnings, thanks to a last-minute surge in festive spending.

The Sunday Times reported that M&S’s broker, Shore Capital, has said the retailer will report a like-for-like sales decline of 2.5%-3% year on year across clothing and food when it announces its latest results on Thursday 10 January. Profits are expected to sit slightly below the company’s anticipated £528m estimate.

Analysts are also expecting Debenhams to announce a similar drop in sales, down 2%-3% over the Christmas period. Despite avoiding a profit warning, The Times reports that analysts at JP Morgan are “extremely concerned” about the company.

Readers' comments (2)

It seems to be so far that Christmas was not as bad as some predicted however, it appears that online sales have made the figures look respectable, as the decline in footfall continues apace and shows little chance of levelling off.

Have your say

Please remember that the submission of any material is governed by our Terms and Conditions and by submitting material you confirm your agreement to these Terms and Conditions. Links may be included in your comments but HTML is not permitted.